Report: Knicks are drawing a line with Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns banked himself some goodwill by helping lead the New York Knicks to the NBA championship this season … but only to a certain degree.

The Knicks are not expected to offer their star big man Towns a max contract extension, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reported Thursday. Edwards adds that the Knicks are “cash-conscious” and would like to retain the flexibility to build out the rest of their roster.

Towns is officially eligible for a new four-year, $272 million max extension from New York. He also has a decent argument for being worth that steep price tag after averaging 22.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per game over his two seasons with the Knicks so far and dropping elite 55/46/91 shooting splits during the 2026 playoffs as New York went on to win it all.

But Towns is also a seven-footer who will be turning 31 later this year. As such, there is plenty of downside potential with maxing Towns out through (presumably) the 2030-31 season.

As it stands right now, Towns is signed for $57.1 million next season and has a $61 million player option for 2027-28. Additionally, there have been reports that Towns, who was shopped around by the Knicks at the February trade deadline, is still unhappy in New York even after their championship win.

Knicks owner James Dolan has publicly admitted that he is trying to avoid the second apron of the luxury tax, and the team consequently just lost a key member of their title team in free agency. On top of the fact that New York is looking to reward superstar Jalen Brunson with a huge new extension of his own, this is essentially the stance that they need to take with the six-time NBA All-Star Towns.